


If I Answer

by Tortellini



Series: 30 Days of Writing (December '18) [10]
Category: Marrowbone (2017)
Genre: 1960s, 30 Days of Writing, 30-Day Fic Meme, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Character Study, Child Murder, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Memories, Memory Related, Mental Anguish, Mental Disintegration, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Multiple Personalities, Murder, Protective Siblings, Psychological Trauma, Repressed Memories, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Siblings, Spoilers, Trauma, Wordcount: 100-500
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-09-17 02:59:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16966416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tortellini/pseuds/Tortellini
Summary: 30 Days of Writing, Day 10: SilhouettesFandom: Marrowbone (2017)...maybe if I answer you you'll still be here after all. Or: Jack Marrowbone relies on his siblings and no matter what, he will keep them all together.Oneshot/drabble





	If I Answer

It was always the four of them. Their mum would say it fondly--if Sam needed help with his writing, Jack would be there to place a patient hand on his shoulder, or if Billy was angry, Jane wouldn't be far behind and able to calm him down. It was the four of them, and their mum of course, but siblings were always different. 

After Rose Marrowbone passed it really was just the four of them now. 

"We are one," Jack said in a small voice, his hands on Jane's and Sam's and Billy's. 

"We are one," they echoed. 

After being cooped up in the house for so long, there was no one that Jack loved more than his brothers and sister (with the exception of Allie, but that was a different kind of love for sure). They relied on him, even Billy though he wouldn't ever admit it. 

And Jack relied on them too. 

* * *

Jane. 

_Long fingers. Long nose. The smell of the iron when she would iron their clothes, painstaking over Billy's overalls. Her twinkling eyes that looked so much like their Mum's; Jack glancing at her out of the corner of his eye and thinking for just a moment he saw her instead of his little sister._

_Her bent over the map with Sam, showing him with her own hand over top of his much smaller one where they were going. The smell of her perfume._

Billy. 

_Scruffy--scruffy voice, sandy hair, same as Jack's, though messier. Narrowed eyes. A quick temper. A quicker laugh. Overalls, worn down, worn whenever he could. His shotgun slung up on his shoulder. Fishing pole on good days._

_Sam on his shoulders and in his arms giggling, being twirled around the living room lit only by lamplight.  Loud laughter around the table._

Sam.

_Little grin missing teeth. Rosy cheeks, sandy curls just like Billy and Jack. Nestled in Jane's arms. Reading books, listening to old records and not minding the static. Staying close to Billy's side when it's time to go exploring._

* * *

Jack listened to their screams. To Sam's cries. To Jane calling for him. To Billy yelling. 

He listened to their father. 

He listened to them just...stop. And he knew. 

Jack closed his eyes and thought of his family. He had made a promise. 

He closed his eyes and put the gun in his mouth.

They would be together again. 


End file.
